WESTBROOK – Class A West remains wide open as the playoffs, approach, and the Westbrook Blue Blazes, 11-4 and in fifth place heading into their final game, are poised to make a deep playoff run.

This season has panned out differently than years past, when one or two teams – either Deering, or Cheverus, or even Westbrook – have coasted to the finish line with little doubt on who was the best team in the league.

This time, as Westbrook coach Greg Souza has noted, “everyone has been beating up of everyone.”

While Marshwood (14-2) sits atop the standings, only two and a half games separate the top-seeded Hawks from the fifth-place Blue Blazes. Essentially, the conference is open for the taking.

The tournament opens with the preliminary games on Tuesday, June 5. Westbrook will take the field first in the regional quarterfinals on Thursday, June 7.

For the Blue Blazes – a team that relies on clutch hits, discipline and pitching – their hopes go only as far as their pitching will take them. What the Blue Blazes have that other teams don’t, however, is the luxury of not having to rely on one stud to deliver in a big game.

The Blue Blazes top three starters – Keenan Lowe, Zach Bean and Joe Dvilinsky – boast a combined ERA of 0.86 and a record of 10-3.

While Dvilinsky remains the leader of the trio in age and experience, it has been Lowe who has stolen the show, posting a 4-1 record and a sub-0.30 ERA. The Blue Blazes ace has been nearly unhittable.

Where the Blue Blazes struggle is at the plate. With a collective team batting average below .300, the pressure is either on their top pitchers to shut the door against the hardest hitting teams, or have the duo of sophomore Kyle Heath (.350) and junior Sam Stauble (.382) produce when runners get on base.

As things stand now, the Blue Blazes are looking at a first round showdown against the defending state champion Cheverus Stags, a team that Souza admits has a knack for finding ways to win where others fall short.

Their meeting would be a rematch from a game earlier this month that saw the Stags pull off a dramatic 4-3 win in extra innings, despite a strong performance from Bean.

While the Blue Blazes failed to get the “W,” the fact remains that had they not had their worst day on the base paths and managed to turn costly errors into outs, the Blue Blazes should have come away as the victors. That should tell Coach Souza and the Westbrook team that they have as good a chance as any team heading into this wide-open tournament.

Westbrook’s Zach Bean, shown here on the mound against Cheverus, is one of three starters to throw well for the Blue Blazes this year. (File photo)